Featured Interview With James Rosenberg
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hi. I am a lifetime resident of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I have practiced law here for over 30 years and use the cases I have as the basis for the fiction I write. Trust me, fiction is easier than real life. In my real cases, I have to accept whatever a judge or jury decides. When I’m writing, I get to decide what the judge does or how the jury decides. Much easier to sleep at night.
When I’m not writing, I hang out with my family. My wife and I hope for grandchildren, but we still have Allie the wonder dog who has as much energy as a flock of young kids.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Growing up, I was never a huge reader. In school, I hated the books we had to read. After law school, I never felt like I had much time to read. Once we had kids, however, I discovered the joy of reading. We always read to our kids and reveled in their fascination with a good story. This led me back to reading and the thrill of discovering a good story. When our oldest son was in Little League, he lucked into a bit of athletic success which inspired so much that I wrote a short essay discussing why his success was so important to us. People who read the essay loved it and I realized that good writing can inspire others. This led me to try to write a novel and now five books later, I consider myself a writer.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love legal thrillers. When I give talks, they are usually centered around why the legal thriller genre is the best. i discuss popular books and movies in the genre like A Few Good Men or To Kill a Mockingbird. People then realize how many legal thrillers have entered the public consciousness and then think about why reading about or watching trials is so entertaining. I usually sum all of that up in one word–conflict. Conflict between lawyers, clients, judges, and juries are at the heart of all legal thrillers and the effects the conflict has on the characters drives these thrillers.
Which is why John Grisham is my inspiration as an author. He and Scott Turow pretty much created the genre, but Grisham in particular awesome at creating stories that put a common person in an extremely difficult legal situation. His stories are well constructed, easy to digest and most of the time teach a little about law and ethics to the reader. I try to do similar things with my stories.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Fatal Reunion, due out in March, has Sam Jordan charged with the murder of his ex-flame’s husband. The book has a nostalgic twinge as it flashes back to Sam’s summers in college spent as a counselor at a camp. The novel focuses on Sam’s trial and explores whether truth really comes out at trial. I think its loads of fun.
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